Obama to seek additional financial aid for Jordan

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — Seeking crucial help for a key Middle Eastern ally, President Barack Obama announced late Friday that he will ask Congress to approve a new round of financial aid for Jordan, which is struggling to manage the influx of hundreds of thousands of refugees from the civil war in Syria.

Jordan is a key Arab ally and stabilizing force in a region where tensions run hot. Its fragile economy is being stretched thin by the substantial costs of accommodating refugees from next-door Syria. Nearly 600,000 Syrians, about one-tenth of the Jordanian population, have crossed the border and sought refuge in Jordan.